Every machine using an internal combustion engine requires a battery primarily to provide direct current for the starter mechanism, usually a starter motor geared to the cranking mechanism. For hybrid vehicles, the batteries are a more integral part of the vehicle's functionality. Batteries also store current for the operation of the machine's other electrical and electronic devices.
Whether placed in the engine compartment of the machine or elsewhere, batteries must be securely held down during operations of the internal combustion engine in order to prevent contacts with the battery posts' terminals.
All machines, including automobiles, typically have a battery hold down mechanism for securing their batteries. The standard battery hold down mechanism uses nuts or locknuts to secure the battery with hold down rods and clamps. Battery replacement tends to require tools; such as ratchets, extensions and sockets, and sometimes the dexterity to reach hard to find crevices in the engine compartment. Furthermore, weather-beaten hold downs are subject to rust and corrosion, making it very difficult for the average consumer to disengage the battery from the hold down rods and hold down clamps. For technicians, replacing batteries, particularly ones with rusted nuts and bolts, can be time consuming. In any case, ratcheting hold down rods and hold down clamps is hazardous as improperly placed tools can bridge the battery posts leading to explosion or electrocution.
In automobile engines, a battery hold down system would typically comprise a cradling or receiving tray for cradling the battery in a battery compartment, openings on the battery compartment or receiving tray for pivotally engaging screw-tipped hold down rods, and horizontally disposed hold down clamps for securely clamping the battery inside the cradling tray and engaging the hold down rods, and washers and nuts for engaging the hold down rods to the clamps.
Henehan (U.S. Pat. No. 2,833,363) uses diagonally disposed j-rods extending from slots on the sidewalls of the battery tray through a clamp designed as a battery retaining loop member and connected thereto by wing nuts.
Hall (U.S. Pat. No. 2,994,395) uses a Z-clamp having a vertically extending member and multiple holes on the horizontal extending member of the clamp for slottable engagement of j-rods between slots on the sidewall of the battery tray and any one of the holes on the horizontal member wherein the rod is fastened to the clamp.
Raney and Zednik, Jr. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,105,566) uses a bottom-mounted system wherein one side of the hold down clamp engages the tray underneath and the opposite side pushes into the side flange near the bottom of the battery. A bolt then secures the hold down clamp to the tray.
Other battery clamping mechanisms are taught in Paller (U.S. Pat. No. 3,125,177), Schlapman (U.S. Pat. No. 3,333,810), Bowers and Breidegam (U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,479, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,704). DiFazio (U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,887) relied on a stud from an adjacent mounting structure to secure the hold down, which consisted of a somewhat complicated mix of two angled members interconnected by a cross-bar member, the one end having an eyelet and the opposite end an upstanding tab which connects to the mounting structure. An L bracket was employed on the opposite end. Valdez (U.S. Pat. No. 4,565,256) produced elastomeric hold downs for attenuating shock and allegedly conforming to varying battery venting arrangements.
As used herein, the terms top-mounted and bottom-mounted relate to the position of the hold down clamp with respect to the battery in securing it to the battery receiving tray. If the hold down clamp is across the top of the battery or along its upper rim, the hold down is considered top-mounted. If the hold down clamp is around the lower rim or the bottom flange of the battery the hold down is considered bottom-mounted. The automobile industry generally employs either the bottom or top-mounted methods of securing the battery against the receiving tray.
Heretofore, whenever a battery had to be removed within a shop environment, tools of different shapes and sizes are needed depending on the make and model of the machine. Other challenges include being careful not to lose nuts and other parts of the hold down mechanism as well as being extremely careful not to bridge the posts of the battery with tools in fishing for tools and exerting the torque needed for removal and reinstallation. Often this is done at great expenditure of time and expense to consumers.